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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Department of Justice is launching an investigation into the shooting death of a black Florida teenager by a neighborhood watch captain last month.

In a statement released Monday, the DOJ said
the investigation would be a joint operation between its Civil Rights
Division, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida,
and the FBI.

"The department will conduct a thorough and
independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at
the conclusion of the investigation," the statement said.

The DOJ said it will also assist and cooperate with the state authorities on the investigation.

17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed by
28-year-old George Zimmerman as he was walking home through Zimmerman's
Sanford, Florida gated community last month.

Zimmerman had called 911 to report Martin as
a suspicious person, and has claimed he shot Martin, who was unarmed,
in self-defense.

The department's announcement comes after
Florida college students held a rally demanding for Zimmerman's arrest.
They claimed Martin had done nothing to provoke the attack from
Zimmerman, and that he was a victim of racial profiling.

"I don't think a man who exited his vehicle
after the 911 dispatcher told him to stay inside the car can claim
self-defense," Carl McPhail, a 28-year-old Barry University law school
student, said at a rally in Sanford.

Zimmerman has not been charged in the case.
Although police have described him as white, his family says he is
Hispanic and not racist.

Prosecutors may not be able to charge
Zimmerman because of changes to state law in 2005. Under the old law,
people could use deadly force in self-defense only if they had tried to
run away or otherwise avoid the danger.

Under the new law, there is no duty to
retreat and it gives a Floridian the right "to stand his or her ground
and meet force with force, including deadly force," if he feels
threatened.

"Prosecutors can have a hard time making a
case if there is no one else around to contradict a person who claims
self-defense," said David Hill, a criminal defense attorney in Orlando.

So far, Sanford police have said there is no evidence to contradict Zimmerman's claims.

"If there is nobody around and you pull a
gun, you just say, `Hey, I reasonably believed I was under imminent
attack. Hey, sorry. Too bad. But you can't prosecute me,"' Hill said,
somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Gun control
advocates said the case is emblematic of permissive gun laws in
Florida, which was among the first states to allow residents to carry
concealed weapons. Florida was the first state to pass a "Stand Your
Ground" law, which has been dubbed a "Shoot First" law by gun control
advocates.

Currently, about half of all U.S. states
have similar laws, said Brian Malte, legislative director of the Brady
Campaign, which describes itself as the nation's largest organization
dedicated to the prevention of gun violence.

"It's coming to dangerous fruition," Malte said. "There are more states like Florida."

The "Stand Your Ground" law's legislative
sponsor, Florida Rep. Dennis Baxley, said it wasn't written to give
people the power to pursue and confront others.

"That's not what this legislation does,"
said Baxley, a Republican. "Unfortunately, every time there is an
unfortunate incident involving a firearm, they think it's about this
law, and it's not."

Friday, March 9, 2012

Chef Batali Agrees to $5.25M Server-Tip Suit Accord

Mario Batali, the celebrity TV chef
and owner of several New York restaurants, is often seen
with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, taste-testing the culinary
delights of Spain in their public television series "On the
Road Again."
Batali took a detour, through his lawyers, to New York
federal court in Manhattan, where he was sued and accused of
cheating workers of part of their tips for serving wine. He and
his associate Joseph Bastianich agreed to pay $5.25 million to
settle the class-action lawsuit, according to court papers.
Servers at restaurants including Babbo, Casa Mono and
Tarry Lodge sued in 2010 alleging their employers violated
the Fair Labor Standards Act -- in part by pocketing
gratuities equal to as much as 5 percent of nightly wine sales.

[Video: Cook-off, Mario Batali vs. Emeril Legasse]
"Mr. Batali, Mr. Bastianich, and their restaurants
unlawfully confiscated a portion of their workers' hard-earned
tips in order to supplement their own profits," employees said
in their complaint.
The settlement agreement, filed March 5, is subject to
approval by a federal judge.
"The matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all
parties, Rachel Bien, one of the employees' lawyers, said today
by e-mail.
Batali on Bankers
Batali got into hot water in November by saying bankers are
"not heroes but they are people that had a really huge effect
on the way the world is operating."
"The ways the bankers have kind of toppled the way money
is distributed and taken most of it into their hands is as good
as Stalin or Hitler and the evil guys," Batali said on a panel
sponsored by Time magazine and posted online.
He apologized the next day, after financial industry
executives criticized him and called for a boycott of his
establishments.
The case is Capsolas v. Pasta Resources Inc., 10-cv-5595,
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

Friday, March 2, 2012

We have all heard the old adage, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get”. For some reason, many of us don’t ask for things because we fear imposing on someone or seeming to be rude. In business and in our personal lives this is farthest from the truth. Remember, the worst answer somebody can give you is “no”. Ohhhh, did you just feel a chill go through you? No, I’m sure not. We have all heard the word “no”, especially from the loving mouths of our parents. But, God knows, we tried to get what we wanted back then without hesitation! So, why is it so hard to ask now that we are independent adults?
We need to learn to ask. And, by asking, more often then not, we will get what we want. Try it a few times and in your practice you will find that you will feel more comfortable. And, in that comfort, you will find success in either your home business or life in general.

Monday, February 27, 2012

fishing boat has reached the cruise ship adrift in the Indian Ocean with more
than 1,000 people on board, officials say.

The Costa Allegra suffered a fire in its generator room that caused it to
lose power south-west of the Seychelles - an area where pirates are active.
It has no lights or air-conditioning and an emergency generator providing
communications "could fail at any minute", the Italian coast guard says.
Tugs are still some hours away.
The ship is from the same fleet as the Costa Concordia, which capsized off
the Italian coast in January, killing 32.
Commander Cosimo Nicastro from the Italian coast guard told the BBC that the
trawler - a French-registered ocean-going boat - could now maintain
communications with rescue vessels if the ship's emergency battery failed.
"At any moment we could lose communication because the emergency battery
could stop at any second," he said.
"The first step is to keep communications with the ship."
He said agencies involved in the rescue operation would reassess the
situation later in the morning.

The ship's owner, Costa Cruises, has stressed that the
Allegra is steady and conditions are safe.

It says it is liaising with passengers' families via their emergency contact
numbers, and has reached two-thirds of them. Contact has been made with the
relatives of all the crew.
Families in the UK can call the company's emergency line on 0207 940
3300.'Not in danger'
Italian authorities have directed three merchant ships and another fishing
vessel towards the stricken cruise ship.
Authorities in the Seychelles say they have sent two tug boats and a coast
guard ship to the scene but the tugs are not expected to reach the ship until
around 1500 GMT on Tuesday
A plane has flown overhead and reported that the ship did not appear to be in
danger.
Costa Cruises said that the ship sent out a distress signal when the fire
broke out, and all passengers and crew not involved in fighting the fire
assembled at the muster stations.
Most electric lights on board the ship are off as the batteries are being
used to keep essential machinery going.
A spokesman said the situation on board was calm and the ship was stable.
Captain Giorgio Moretti said a helicopter would bring fresh food to the ship
on Tuesday morning, as it is without cooking facilities.
Captain Moretti said it had not been decided whether to try to transfer the
passengers to other ships, or leave them on board until it is tugged to
shore.

There are 636 passengers and 413 crew on board the Costa Allegra, which left
Madagascar on Saturday.
It was due to arrive in the Seychelles on Tuesday.
Further destinations on its itinerary include Alexandria and Naples in the
Mediterranean Sea.
Somali pirates are known to operate in the area where the Allegra is adrift,
though they have never seized a cruise ship.
Nine members of the Italian navy's anti-pirate unit are on board the ship as
a precaution.A facility on
Costa Cruises' website allowing people to track the Allegra's position says
that "data transmission is temporarily suspended".
The company says the Allegra received its regularly scheduled maintenance in
dry dock in October 2011.
The Costa Concordia ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio on 13
January.
The Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, has been accused of
manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship before all those aboard
were evacuated. He denies any wrongdoing

Are you on board the ship? Do you have friends or family
on board? Please get in touch using the form below.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

BIG NEWS, BUTTS, BIG NEWS:as I'm sure your homemade Hunger Games countdown clock has informed you, there are only 28 DAYS LEFT until the greatest movie of all time hits the theaters and Peeta Mellark's buns are forever burned into our lucky, lucky minds. (I AM TALKING ABOUT HIS BREAD, GUYS, COME ON. GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER.)
Today, I'm here to announce that YOU, yes, YOU, can get up-close and personal with the fantastically good-looking and supremely awesome cast of this movie. How is this possible, you ask, your chin covered in drool and eyes wide with hope?
It's easy: JUST GET YOURSELF TO A MALL. Because Katniss, Gale, and Peeta are going on an 8-city MALL TOUR across the US beginning on March 3—which means that you could soon be standing in the immediate vicinity of Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson.
Go ahead and do a victory hip-thrust. I know you want to.
Here's the rundown: if you live in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seattle, Phoenix, Dallas, Miami, Chicago, or Minneapolis, then you are A LUCKY SONOFAGUN, and you can attend one of the following fan events and participate in Q&As with the cast and enter giveaways to win Hunger Games Gear! Here are the deets

You never run out of things to look at, therefore you never run out of things to photograph, therefore you never run out of things to paint, therefore you never run out of things to write about, therefore you never run out of things to sing about, therefore life's beautiful

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them."